TEHRAN-Concurrent with the State Language Day in Tajikistan, October 5, the National Museum of Tajikistan in Dushanbe opened a new section dedicated to the works of the famous Persian poet Hafez.

The Hafez section in the museum generally includes manuscripts related to Hafez and copies of Hafez's divan, a collection of his surviving ghazals, IRNA reported on Friday.

At the opening ceremony, Iranian poet Mostafa Mohadesi-Khorasani recited some ghazals by Hafez and talked about the place of Persian language in the cultural convergence of the Persian and Tajik people.

It is the first time that an independent section for Hafez has been considered in the museums of Persian speaking countries.

Tajik, also called Tajiki Persian or Tajiki, is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by Tajiks. It is closely related to neighboring Dari of Afghanistan with which it forms a continuum of mutually intelligible varieties of the Persian language.

Hafez works are regarded by many Iranians as one of the highest pinnacles of Persian literature. Hafez primarily wrote in the literary genre of lyric poetry or ghazals, that is the ideal style for expressing the ecstasy of divine inspiration in the mystical form of love poems.

Themes of his ghazals include the beloved, faith and exposing hypocrisy. Adaptations, imitations and translations of his poems exist in all major languages.

The launch of the Hafez section at the museum happened on the final day of the 11th Dushanbe International Book Exhibition “Kitobi Dushanbe 2023” (The Book of Dushanbe), which was held in the Tajikistan capital city, From October 3 to 5.

Iran Book and Literature House represented Iran’s publishing industry at the fair, presenting over 800 titles on various subjects of classic and contemporary literature including poetry and novels, and titles related to the holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH).

The international book exhibition presented books of 50 publications from Tajikistan and eight other countries.

SS/SAB